Friend or Enemy?
by TheWindwalker
Summary: Ragel is a girl who grew up on Outcast Island. When Hiccup is captured by Alvin, he Ragel meet and become unlikely friends. Together they must work together to escape from Alvin. Title may change, may have some Hiccstrid later on...
1. Chapter 1

The Outcast girl looked up from where she was checking her fishing nets at the sound of a yell. Her grey-blue eyes searched the nearby village for the source of the yell. She saw a young boy that she had seen around a couple of times taken by one of Alvin's soldiers. She didn't know why he was being taken, but she could guess that he wasn't being invited for a nice relaxing time with Alvin. She felt sorry for the boy, but she knew better than to do anything to draw attention to herself.

Ragel, for that was the girl's name, was a young teenage girl of about 15. She was thin and pale, and had long dirty blonde hair tied into a loose plait. She was dressed in an old, grey, and tattered tunic and black pants that had long ago faded to grey. There wasn't anything remarkable about her and seemed to just melt into the background, passers-by completely ignoring her. _Good, _she thought, that was exactly how she liked it.

Ragel had lived on Outcast Island for as long as she could remember. She was an orphan and had never known her parents – in fact; she knew absolutely nothing about who her parents were. She had been forced to looked after herself from a very young age, after her adopted parents both died during an unusually harsh winter. Ragel didn't know much about herself, but she had heard rumours that Alvin was somehow…..keeping an eye on her. She didn't how or why, but she hoped that that was just what they were – rumours.

Fending for yourself on Outcast Island is no easy task. Ragel was often forced to steal food to stay alive, and in the past she had been desperate enough to eat just about anything. She slept where she could, and worked on the docks checking and repairing fishing nets. The job was long and hard, and her pay was very low. Ragel would often have to spend her days waist deep in freezing water on harsh winter days, just to make sure that she didn't lose her job, but what else could she do?

There was an upside on working on the docks though. All trade that went in or out from Outcast Island happened here, so Ragel was always aware about what was going on. She had heard some months ago about a man in a neighbouring tribe called the Dragon Conqueror. This man was said to be a giant with the strength of ten dragons and who was as cruel as the Red Death which he killed. Ragel didn't know how much of these stories to believe, but what she did know was that Alvin was planning on capturing this Dragon Conqueror.

_**A/N**_

_**Hello everyone, this is my first fan fiction and I hope that you guys are liking it so far .I'm not sure how often I will be able to update but I'll try my best to be fast. I know that this chapter isn't very long, but consider it as a sort of introduction. I'm hoping that the next chapters will be longer.**_

_**I'll just say now that I am NOT planning on pairing Ragel with Hiccup, and I am not planning on introducing any other OCs as main characters. This might change, though. I'll try to add as few other OCs as possible, but again, it just depends on how the story goes and what types of characters I think will make it more interesting.**_

_**Oh yes, one more thing (sorry for the long AN). I am rating this T for the violence. I am planning on having quite a lot of violence in this fanfic, but the language will all be K.**_

_**Thanks for reading, and I hope that everyone has a great day. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N Sorry, I can't write accents to you guys will have to imagine them. Enjoy!**_

Hiccup woke up to find himself in an unfamiliar, dark, wooden room. He tried to remember how he had gotten there, but nothing came to him. His head was spinning and he felt dizzy. He felt the room rocking, and realised that he must be on a ship of some sort. He suddenly remembered with horror what had happened the day before, or at least what he thought must have been the day before because he didn't know how long he had been unconscious.

_He and Astrid had been flying around Berk when Astrid spotted something down on the beach. She pointed it out to Hiccup and the two flew down to the beach. They found a small wooden boat that seemed to be deserted and footsteps leading into the nearby forest. Astrid looked down at the boat and frowned. "This isn't one of ours."_

"_How do you know?" Hiccup asked her, looking over the boat. He couldn't see any crests or anything else that could tell them what tribe tis boat was from. _

'_This…." Astrid said, and Hiccup saw her holding an axe that was strangely shaped. "This is an Outcast Axe."_

'_Are you sure?" Hiccup asked, clearly impressed with her knowledge of weapons, but worried about the thought of Outcasts on Berk. "What would they be doing here?"_

"_I don't know," Astrid said with a frown, "but I'm sure it isn't anything that we would like."_

_As the two were examining the boat, they didn't hear Stormfly give a warning growl. Hiccup heard a roar behind him and turned to see Toothless caught in a bola and Stormfly fighting off two Outcast warriors. He saw that Astrid was also being attacked next to him, but before he could reach into his belt he had been tackled down by two more Outcasts. He gave a yelp as he fell and looked up to see the flat side on an axe coming down at him._

Hiccup was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps coming towards him. The door of the little room he was in creaked open and saw Alvin the Treacherous standing before him. Alvin! Hiccup had never actually seen Alvin before, but somehow he just knew that this was him. He had stories, terrible stories, but he never imagined that he would actually come face to face with Alvin himself. Hiccup tried to stand up to show that he wasn't weak, but tripped over his own metal foot.

Alvin laughed as he saw Hiccup fall. Hiccup really was an embarrassment, he thought. He had no idea how Hiccup could have brought down the Red Death by himself, but he did, and that was why he had taken Hiccup from Berk. Alvin wanted more than anything to have Berk as his own, and what better way than to train dragons for a battle against Berk, and keep their heir hostage in the process.

Hiccup finally managed to get up in spite of his fear and gave Alvin a defiant look. "What do you want?" he asked with as much force as he could, but his voice came off as thin and weak in the presence of Alvin.

"To train dragons for us, of course!" Alvin boomed out with a cruel laugh, before marching up to Hiccup. Hiccup looked up at Alvin with as much courage as he could muster.

"I'll never train dragons for you!" he declared, but Alvin never expected Hiccup to agree with him.

"Oh, you will, boy. You will or you'll wish you were never born…" Alvin growled at Hiccup menacingly. Hiccup shrank back against the wall knowing full well what Alvin meant, and said nothing. Alvin, convinced that his threat had been clear, turned and left the room.

Hiccup gave a sigh as Alvin banged the door shut behind him. He the lock click and knew that escape was almost impossible. Hiccup realised that if he was to escape, he would have to get out of the room, past a ship full of Outcasts, and somehow make his way back to Berk. He began thinking or everyone back home, and realised that he already missed them. Hiccup thought of Astrid and Toothless, who he had last seen fighting Outcasts. A sudden dread filled him, and he hoped that they were safe and not hurt. He figured that if Alvin had somehow captured them he would have used them to get him to agree to train dragons for him. There was still some doubt left in his mind, though.

Next, Hiccup's mind wandered over to his father. He and his father had never really seen eye to eye, but their relationship had definitely improved in the last months since he had defeated the Red Death. They still didn't always agree, but at least Hiccup knew that his father wasn't ashamed of him anymore. But Hiccup thought of what might happen if he couldn't hold out and did train dragons for Alvin. Berk would be in danger, people he cared about would die, and it would all be his fault. Even if after all that he survived and escaped, he didn't know if he would ever be able to face his father again. It would all be his fault.

Hiccup had been sitting in the room for what felt like forever when he heard shouts from above. He realised with horror that the ship had reached the docks of Outcast Island. Hiccup knew that with good weather it was at least two full days ride on ship from Berk to Outcast Island, the good weather was rare. Hiccup began to wonder how long he really had been unconscious. The shouts from above died down and Hiccup heard footsteps coming towards his room again. He shrank back against the wall, certain that more the foreseeable future his life was about to become hell.

_**A/N**_

_**Thanks guys for reading. Please review, it would mean a lot to me. Next chapter we will have some more from Ragel's point or view. Also, if anyone has any suggestion, questions, or constructive criticism, please feel free to share it. (I'll just let everyone know that English is not my first language. I have grown up with English, but my vocabulary is not the best.)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N There are a couple of scenes here that squeamish people may not enjoy, but it shouldn't be too bad. Enjoy!**_

Ragel held her long, thin dagger close to her side as she walked quietly through the forest of dead, burnt stumps. It was late evening, and the forest – if that's even what you can call it – was dark and eerie. Ragel didn't mind though. This probably meant that there was less chance of people being around. She looked down at the dagger she was holding, and remembered how she had got it.

_One of the Outcast longships had just come back from a raid, and on the ship was about a dozen or so prisoners the Outcasts had taken. She had watched as a young girl who must have only been about seven or eight was grabbed by one of the Outcast soldiers and pulled ashore. The girl was kicking and screaming with all her might. Another man who must have been the girl's father broke away from the other prisoners and ran up to the Outcast holding the girl. 'No!' he cried, before he suddenly jerked to a stop and fell flat on the sand with an axe sticking out of his back. The girl screamed, before the Outcast grabbed his dagger from his side and stabbed it into the girl's neck. The girl was killed instantly and fell to the floor. He looked down at the girl's dead body and grimaced. He grabbed the closest person in the crowd, who happened to be me, and told me to clean up the mess before stalking off. _

Living on Outcast Island you get used to seeing blood quite quickly, but the little girl's body lying in a pool of her own blood with a dagger sticking out of her neck was something that made even Ragel sick. Ragel looked down at her dagger, the same dagger that had killed the young girl. Ragel knew that her dagger had a horrible history, but weapons were hard for to come by and every little thing counts.

Ragel had been out in the forest for about two or three hours trying to find a place to spend the night. She didn't have a home to stay in at the time, and the docks were crawling with soldiers and she didn't want to cause any trouble. She decided to just stay away and spend the night in a small cave that she had slept in before. She knew that she was going to have a cold and uncomfortable night in this winter weather, but there wasn't really anything else that she could do.

As Ragel came to the cave entrance she noticed several Terrible Terrors around the rocks. Ragel knew that they could be dangerous – for all dragons on Outcast Island were – but she decided to take a chance. After all, she was starving and hadn't eaten at all that day. She crept up behind a Terror that was only interested in trying to catch a little lizard, and she threw her dagger. Ragel had practised with her knives many times so she was a good shot. The dagger hit the Terror on the side of the neck and he was killed instantly.

Ragel walked up to where the dead Terror was lying on the ground. The others had flown away as soon as they saw their companion had been killed. Ragel looked at the little body and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for it. She didn't mind dragons, and admired their strength and beauty. But dragons on Outcast Island were all wild and hated humans. There was never a chance to try to get close to one without either a Viking or a dragon ending up dead.

Ragel took the little body into the cave with her and lit a fire. The cave was concealed within a rocky crevice and Ragel knew that there was no chance of being spotted by anyone outside. She placed the dragon onto the fire whole and lay down to wait for it to cook. There wasn't much meat on the small carcase and it didn't taste too good wither, but Ragel was grateful for it. She finished her meal and soon fell asleep.

Ragel woke a good two hours before dawn. She needed to get back to the village to do her job. She packed all her things and jogged off in the direction of the village.

Ragel was surprised to find that the village seemed quite empty. Even though the horizon had just started to get lighter with the first rays of sunshine, there were usually already fishermen. Ragel remembered that the last time she had seen the village like this was just after a dragon raid. She looked around and saw the tell-tale signs of dragons from the night before. A building had been completely burnt down, and she saw a Viking body laying next a Gronkle carcass. Ragel had seen things like this before, and though she felt sorry for the people who had lost their homes or lives, she had to take care of herself. She continued walking down to where the nets were kept.

Along the way Ragel walked past another house which had been burnt down. She decided that she should probably look and see if there was anything useful left. She walked through the ashes for a few minutes without finding anything useful and was just about to turn around when she kicked something with her foot. She reached down and picked up a small stuffed toy. It was burnt badly, but she recognised it as a doll and wondered who it might have belonged to. She searched the ground quickly before her eyes fell on a horrifying sight. She saw a burnt hand sticking out of the ashes, and traced it back to see a small human body lying on the ground which she had missed before. She jumped back with surprise and horror, and realised that that must have been the girl that the stuffed doll had belonged too. Ragel gave a gasp and walked as quickly as she could out of the remains of the building, leaving the doll where she had found it.

Ragel had just reached the docks where the nets were when she saw a ship coming on the horizon. She watched it for a few minutes until it was close enough to see who the ship belonged to. It was the _Narwhal, _The best raiding ship the Outcasts had. She watched the ship until it docked near her, and she was just about to continue with her work and stay unnoticed when she heard a scream coming from on board. She looked at the ship again and saw Alvin and a boy brownish-red hair. She realised that the boy must have been about her age when she heard one of the Outcasts jeering. "Are you scared, Dragon Conqueror!" She Outcasts all laughed, but Ragel just stared with her mouth open. _He _was the Dragon Conqueror!?

_**A/N**_

_**In this chapter I have been trying to show how hard it is to live on Outcast Island and how they view the dragons. I'm going to try to get into the action in this story as fast as I can, but I do want some background information in there to add more depth. If you guys think that I'm spending too much time going over what life is like on Outcast Island please tell me and I will try to leave out some information and put in more action. Thanks for your support,**_


	4. Chapter 4

Hiccup stood as tall as he could on the dock, determined not to show any fear. He ignored the jeering of the Outcasts and focused on trying to think of a way out of the mess he was in. Hiccup was jerked from his thoughts when he heard the booming voice of Alvin next to him saying, "Berk will be ours! My friend Hiccup here has agreed to train dragons for us, and then the cowards-who-dare-to-call-themselves-Viking from Berk will stand no chance!"

"I'll never train dragons for you!" Hiccup said to Alvin in what he hoped was a string voice. Alvin just looked at him, before motioning to some of his warriors who were still on the ship. A shout was heard from one of the warriors, before a muffled scream and the sound of a weapon being drawn. Hiccup looked in horror as the two outcast soldiers emerged from the ship with a blonde girl between them, one of the soldiers holding an axe to her throat.

"Astrid!" Hiccup started. He had hoped that Astrid had somehow gotten away. He saw that Astrid was covered in bruises and looked exhausted from struggling.

"Take her away!" Alvin ordered, and Hiccup looked helplessly as Astrid was dragged away onto the Island. He stared after her until he could no longer see her, before facing Alvin.

"Don't you dare touch her," Hiccup started, before he was interrupted by his booming laugh.

"Or what?!" Alvin spat, "You'll fight us all? You're an embarrassment to your tribe and father, and an embarrassment to all Vikings! Without your dragon you're helpless!"

Hiccup flinched at Alvin's words and was about to give a sarcastic reply to cover his fear when he was violently pushed off the docks onto the sand. He held back a yelp as a hand reached down and grabbed him cruelly by his arm and dragged him off to one of the many dungeons on Outcast Island.

Hiccup was thrown into the dungeon, and before he could get up or say anything the door was swung shut in his face. Wondering what on Earth he was going to do, Hiccup sat back against a wall and waited.

Ragel had stood and watched as the girl was taken from the ship and lead onto the Island. She knew that the girl – Astrid the Dragon Conqueror had called her – was being taken to dragon kill ring and that she was probably going to be killed or tortured. She looked back at the Dragon Conqueror when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She turned around and started right into the face of one a soldier who looked vaguely familiar.

"What do you think you're doing here?" the soldier growled.

"I was just checking the nets!" Ragel started, looking for an excuse to get away.

"Sure you were," the soldier said, obviously not believing her. "You're coming with me. You've been spying on us, and Alvin will hear about this!"

Ragel felt her hopes fall. Of course there was no way to prove that she was spying, and that it wasn't even such a big deal, but this was Outcast Island and Outcasts do often…..overreact. Ragel tried not to think of what was going to happen and the solder dragged her in the same direction that the blonde girl had been taken earlier.

Ragel knew better than to struggle as she was dragged away, knowing that it would just make things worse for herself. She wasn't as strong as the soldier and she couldn't get to her daggers. She was lead to the dragon kill rings before being lead through an adjoining tunnel and thrown in a cell.

Seeing the cell door being locked behind her knowing that, at least at the moment, there was no way of escape, Ragel sat down next to the bars and wondered what was going to happen to her when Alvin came.

Ragel had just begun to doze off from exhaustion when she felt a hand grabbing at her throat. Spinning around and taking her dagger out of her pocket, Ragel looked and saw the blonde girl who was with the Dragon Conqueror earlier staring at her and looking ready to kill someone. The girl was in the cell next to her and there were only bars dividing the two girls. Grateful that the Outcast soldier hadn't been smart enough to check her for weapons, Ragel pointed her dagger at the girl.

"Ummm, hi?" Ragel said, having no idea what to say. She had never actually met anyone else her own age and she had to admit that she was awkward around others.

The blonde girl just stared at her, murder in her eyes.

_Well, if you're going to act like that, _Ragel thought, _then we're both dead when Alvin comes._

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm alive. Sorry I took so long to update, but life got in the way. Anyway, the next chapter might be Astrid's POV. **


End file.
